Hon. Daniel W. Payette

The Honourable Daniel W. Payette is counsel and a former judge of the Superior Court of Québec, whose career has been marked by consistent analytical rigour, a lasting contribution to the development of the law, and expertise recognized both nationally and internationally. Called to the Bar of Québec in 1981, he quickly built a leading practice in commercial litigation, insurance law, civil and medical liability, and class actions. Appointed puisne judge of the Superior Court of Québec in July 2008, he presided over hearings in all divisions of the Court — civil, family, criminal, and penal — including several jury trials. In response to the challenges raised by the Jordan decision, he founded and led the Superior Court's Statutory Appeals Division. From the outset of his appointment, he was actively involved in training his peers. Driven by a longstanding interest in the protection of vulnerable persons, he delivered training on the law of persons within the Court, contributed to the development of best practices for child interviews, and for several years co-led training for the Family Division. He authored and annually updated the Court's reference document on the law of persons. The Honourable Payette devoted a significant part of his tenure to judicial writing and decision-making processes. For more than a decade, he co-chaired the NJI's annual judgment-writing seminar for newly appointed judges, as well as the advanced seminar jointly offered by the INM and the NJI for more experienced judges. He also provided judicial writing training to federally appointed judges, Québec administrative judges, judges of the Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick, Ontario provincial judges, Alberta justices of the peace, and Belgian magistrates through the Institut de Formation Judiciaire de Belgique. He delivered a talk on plain language at an international conference held by the organization Clarity. He is the author of the Guide de survie des nouveaux juges, published on the INM's website, a reference work for judges early in their mandate. His interest in cognitive psychology led him to collaborate with the NJI in establishing an annual seminar on cognitive bias. He has also lectured on the impact of unconscious cognitive bias on decision-makers and on ways to guard against it. As a speaker, he has notably addressed the Association internationale francophone des intervenants auprès des familles, the Barreau du Québec, and McGill University's Faculty of Law, and has taken part in various panels on judicial silence regarding family violence and the challenges of writing decisions in sexual offence matters. He also designed and led the Convaincre training program for lawyers on written and oral advocacy, a program that has, to date, been attended by nearly 1,000 lawyers. After sixteen years with the Superior Court of Québec, the Honourable Payette retired from the bench in 2024, remaining an active member of the NJI and INM seminar faculties. To this day, the Honourable Payette is regularly called upon by the media to comment on judicial affairs. Since joining LLT, the Honourable Payette brings to the firm the depth of experience gained on both sides of the bench. He acts as counsel on matters where his perspective is of particular value, bringing rigorous judicial insight to litigation strategy. He is also regularly called upon as a mediator, drawing on his refined understanding of decision-making dynamics and the demands of the judicial process. He also serves as a mentor to the firm's younger lawyers, helping to shape the culture of excellence and precision that defines LLT.